


Tattoos and Confessions

by kinneyb



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-11-12 18:41:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11167779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kinneyb/pseuds/kinneyb
Summary: When Lance finds out Keith is getting a tattoo, he accidentally sets himself up to get one, too. Who knew it'd end with him calling Keith beautiful?





	Tattoos and Confessions

**Author's Note:**

> terrible summary i'm sorry this is my first voltron fic give me a break it's also just mindless fun cause i need some practice writing these characters before i go for anything longer/serious but ya feel free to follow me on twitter @ froyepic or tumblr @ lgbtkeiths i post voltron a lot rip

"You're... - you're _what_?!"

Keith barely looked up as he pulled his shoes on. "We're taking a break on this planet and, according to Coran, they specialize in tattoos. Well," he paused briefly, "apparently they don't call them tattoos here but same thing."

Lance threw his arms out, waving them wildly. "Doesn't mean you have to get one."

"What's the big deal?" Finally Keith looked up, a lopsided grin on his face. "You scared of needles?"

Lance cleared his throat, crossing his arms. "Pfft, of course not."

"Mhm," Keith hummed as he stood up and grabbed his jacket off his bed. "I totally believe you."

Lance didn't understand how or why Keith always got under his skin. Truly. He'd always been competitive, sure, but never like this - never with anyone but Keith. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he barked out "I can prove it" before his brain could stop him.

Keith stopped in the doorway. Slowly he turned around. "You're serious?"

No backing down now. That was Lance's motto - at least around Keith it was.

"Totally," he confirmed, ignoring the terrible fluttering in his stomach.

Okay, maybe he was a little afraid of needles. But he was also a Paladin, one who had fought many terrifying creatures, so. How bad could a needle really be? One look at the toothy grin on Keith's face, though, and he somehow didn't really feel like much of a winner.

"Okay," Keith said. "Let's do it."

**

"So," Lance said once they'd landed on the planet. It was pretty simple compared to the other planets they'd visited so far, which Lance decided was a good thing; simple usually meant safe. "What tattoo are you, like, you know, getting?"

Keith kept two or three steps ahead of him, following a tiny map Coran had given them. "Something on my back."

Instinctively Lance's gaze fell from the back of Keith's head and landed on his back. He'd never, ever tell Keith this, of course, but he admired his stature; he was thin and agile but not scrawny probably due to all the time he spent training.

"Okay," he said eventually, looking back up. "But what are you actually getting?"

Keith peered back at him, lifting a dark eyebrow. "Why? You gonna steal my idea?"

Lance rolled his eyes, making a show of it. "Don't flatter yourself."

Turning on his heels, Keith stopped and shrugged. "I guess you'll just have to wait and see, huh?" Lance narrowed his eyes, glancing up at the big sign hanging over Keith's head. "We're here."

**

Lance was an idiot. Okay, not an idiot necessarily just... occasionally stupid.

Somehow his brain had convinced him they'd be getting tattooed in the same room, which for some odd reason had calmed him down. Now, looking back, he realized that wasn't really logical.

As soon as they entered the building, they were separated and took to their own individual rooms. The room was fairly small with a bed in the middle and a big table next to it with what Lance decided were questionable looking devices.

Lance had never gotten a tattoo, obviously, but he had to guess this wasn't the normal process. Shrugging, he sat on the bed.

A few moments later, a man entered the room who looked mostly human.

"So," he plopped down. "What do you want?"

**

Okay, Lance was a walking cliche. To be fair he'd woken up that morning with no plans of getting a tattoo, so is it really his fault he couldn't come up with some creative tattoo on the spot?

But it wasn't _terrible_. And it kind of had meaning.

When he went back to the waiting room, he was a little surprised Keith wasn't out yet. Taking a seat, he picked up one of the magazines (even though he couldn't make out a single word on the front) and leaned back.

It didn't take long for his brain to start wandering. He tried imagining what kind of tattoo Keith was getting. If Pidge had any say in it she'd probably say something 'emo'. That was her favorite descriptive word for Keith.

After what felt like an eternity, the doors to the back opened and Keith stepped out.

Lance watched as he talked to the man and tried paying him.

"No charge for the Paladins of Voltron," he said.

Lance walked over and slapped a hand on Keith's back, who visibly winced. "Thanks, bud," he thanked the man with a friendly smile.

The man smiled back. "Of course. But you should really be careful with your friend's back."

Lance blinked a few times before quickly jumping around to face Keith. "Shit, forgot."

"It's fine," Keith rolled his shoulders. "Let's get back."

**

"So," Lance stared at Keith's back. "You gonna show me or?"

Keith glanced back at him with a glint in his eyes. Lifting his shirt, Lance got a nice look at -

"That's not funny," he huffed as Keith dropped his shirt back down over the bandages.

Keith smiled, tiny but genuine. "I'll show you when we get back, okay?"

**

No one else seemed very interested in Keith's tattoo, which Lance found strange.

Coran and Hunk made a couple jokes, Shiro did ask to see it later, Pidge barely said or did anything. Allura seemed the most interested but even then she didn't push to see it, just talked about how maybe she wanted one.

Coran unsurprisingly tried talking her out of it.

They all knew better, though. If Allura really wanted one, she'd get one.

Lance followed Keith to his room and stood off to the side as he watched Keith shrug off his jacket and slip out of his shoes. "So."

"You've been saying that a lot today. I know your vocabulary is stunted but this is a new low."

Lance narrowed his eyes. "Ha ha. So funny."

He barely caught Keith's grin as he pulled off his shirt.

"You know, this would look so wrong to anyone looking in."

Keith started to unwrap the bandages. "Huh?"

Lance couldn't believe he didn't get it. "You - undressing. Me - waiting for you to undress."

If he didn't regret the words immediately, he did the second Keith looked at him with wide eyes and flushed cheeks. Okay, maybe regret wasn't the right word. Seeing Keith so flustered was actually kind of amusing.

After a second or two Keith shook his head and finished unwrapping the bandages. "You're so weird."

"Funny," Lance corrected, grinning at the remaining heat staining Keith's cheeks.

Finished, Keith tossed the bandages on his bed and turned around. Lance thought of all the possibilities he had come up with in the waiting room. This definitely wasn't one of them. The tattoo took up the entirety of his upper back, soft lines creating the shape of his lion; the Red Lion. Behind it were flames - a perfect backdrop for the fiery lion and Keith.

"Whoa," Lance muttered.

Keith shrugged. "It's kind of cliche, I know."

Before Lance knew it, he'd taken two steps forward. Reaching out, he gently touched Keith's back. He tensed under his hand but otherwise didn't move, which Lance took as a good sign. His fingers slowly traced the flames. "This is fucking incredible."

His hand finally dropped away and Keith turned around. "What about you?"

Lance laughed, rubbing the base of his neck. "If you think _your_ tattoo is cliche - "

Keith smiled softly, and Lance didn't understand why the fluttery feeling in his stomach was back again. He chalked it up to embarrassment. "Come on," Keith said after a moment, tilting his head. "If I don't see it, how do I know you actually got one?"

"Please," Lance shook off his embarrassment, grinning. "I'm many things but never a liar."

He slowly rolled up his right sleeve. Wrapping around his bicep was a string of stars - one of the few things he truly enjoyed about space. "It's way smaller than your tattoo, obviously, and not really anything special but, uh - "

"I think it suits you," Keith interrupted.

Lance looked up, narrowing his eyes. "You gonna spin that into an insult?"

With them, everything was usually an insult.

Keith shrugged. "No, but I can if you want."

"No thanks," Lance rolled his sleeve back down. "I, uh, I think your tattoo suits you. It basically embodies everything you are. Fiery, bold, beau - " This time, regret flooded him before the word even left his mouth.

He was hoping Keith had missed it.

"Did you just almost call me _beautiful_?"

Of course not.

Lance cleared his throat. "No. I was calling the _tattoo_ beautiful."

He really wanted to wipe that grin off Keith's face. "Well, the _tattoo_ says thanks."

"Get out."

Keith lifted a dark eyebrow. "This is my room."

Lance blinked. "Right. Well, I'll go then."

He stomped to the door and opened it.

"Before you go - "

Lance glanced back despite his better judgement. Keith was still grinning.

"I think your tattoo is cute."

Lance narrowed his eyes before suddenly his face exploded with hotness. "Wait - "

"Sorry," Keith started to close the door, grin still firmly plastered on his face. "Gotta clean my tattoo before bed. You should, too, by the way."

Lance gestured lazily. "Okay, sure, but I - "

"Night, Lance."

He stared blankly at the closed door. The fluttery feeling was back and stronger than ever.

**Author's Note:**

> also i know tattoos are like... not done that fast and can take days, especially with color, to be finished but i mean this isn't reality ok and it's an alien planet i like to believe they have advanced ways of doing tattoos don't question it just enjoy


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